Ongoing Background Screening Can Save Companies from Crisis

Recently, rideshare giant Uber went public with their plans to conduct ongoing backgroundscreening for their gig workers, looking for regular updates on driving records, including new criminal violations and license suspensions. 

Ongoing background screening—a new trend in HR and risk management—allows employers to monitor employee records in real-time so employers can flag internal threats, increase workplace safety, employ remote workers more confidently, and grow a positive brand perception through that diligence. 

But, it’s not all positive. While most candidates now expect some level of pre-employment screening when applying for jobs (more than 70% of employers are conducting background checks of some kind in 2023), most candidates aren’t used to being screened on a rolling basis post-hire–through their tenure. 

As a result, some candidates might not apply for roles with ongoing background screening due to privacy concerns—decreasing applicant pools for actively-hiring employers. 

Ongoing background screening complicates compliance management and creates additional data concerns since organizations that screen on a rolling basis collect a greater amount of highly sensitive employee data. 

It’s also an added expense in the HR budget. 

But, the potential downsides of ongoing background screening—and the money organizations spend up front—are a small price to pay compared to the consequences of employing a high-risk individual, which can result in an expensive lawsuit, a tarnished brand, loss of business from customers, and more.  

Ongoing Background Screening Can Save Time and Money

Here are three real-life examples of when ongoing background screening would have protected well-known brands from crisis–and saved them large amounts of time and money: 

The Uber Lawsuit

In January 2022, a Massachusetts man filed a lawsuit against Uber for $63 million, claiming the company hired a driver with a dangerous record who was at the wheel in an accident that left him paralyzed. The driver had a poor driving history dating back to 1996, including more than 20 driving citations, and was at one point required to take a driver retraining course by the state of Massachusetts. 

Ongoing background screening would have made it easier for Uber to spot the warning signs, helping them save hours of time and millions of dollars. Plus, it would have protected the brand from another negative PR hit during a time when they’ve come under much scrutiny. 

The U.S. Army: Jonathan Majors Incident

Last week, the U.S. Army’s new multi-million dollar “Be All You Can Be” campaign was paused, and all commercials were pulled from TV after the campaign’s star, actor Jonathan Majors, was arrested for alleged assault. The campaign was slated to help the U.S. Army bounce back from its worst recruiting year in recent history in 2022.

Instead, it’s bringing their brand unwanted negative attention and costing the organization millions of dollars on unusable content. Ongoing employment screening could have made a difference in reaching their 2023 recruiting goals.

The 7 Billion Dollar Case

In July of 2022, a jury in Texas found cable company, Charter Communications (aka Spectrum), liable for $7 billion in punitive damages after a customer was stabbed to death by one of its employees. Charter was accused of hiring the employee without verifying his employment history and ignoring a series of red flags about his behavior, which included stealing credit cards and checks from elderly female customers.

The employee’s increasingly suspicious behavior is a good indicator that something probably would have turned up on a background check over his tenure, saving Charter from an enormous financial hit and a horrific headline in the news. 

At the very least, ongoing background screening empowers employers to keep things a little tighter—to take a closer, more regular look at their employees. Beyond mitigating risk, getting into the practice of checking in on employees at a standard cadence can help HR professionals keep a pulse on key employee metrics, like engagement and burnout. 

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